More help for lepers<\/p>\n
The articles on leprosy by K. Basrie in The Jakarta Post of
\nJan. 29, 1996 were very interesting, yet for me they raised more
\nquestions than they answered. In Jakarta, I remember seeing many
\nlepers begging at traffic lights and was horrified by their
\nplight.<\/p>\n
K. Basrie's articles are compassion seeking, and I support
\nthem. But he does not give any statistics on leprosy in
\nIndonesia, nor do we know whether leprosy is being eradicated -
\nor on the increase. Nor does he tell us how leprosy starts,
\nwhether it is infectious and why it seemingly only afflicts poor
\nvillagers.<\/p>\n
One horrific point he does mention is that these poor
\nsufferers are not looked after by the government. Whilst the
\ninstitutions \"are heavily subsidized by the government\" the
\nlepers still have to pay Rp 9,000 per month! It saddens me that
\nthe government can authorize millions of dollars for aircraft
\ndevelopment, yet cannot come up with a few million rupiah more
\nfor the lepers.<\/p>\n
Come on, let's see a bit more compassion from the government,
\nat least for the chronically ill who have no way of providing for
\nthemselves. Why not also some sort of disability pension, so that
\ncured lepers and other chronically disabled people will be
\nencouraged to go back to their homes, or even to try to seek
\nemployment - in the knowledge that they are not going to be a
\nfinancial burden to others.<\/p>\n
Finally, there should be an NGO to lobby for government funds
\nas well as public donations; and a program bring about the
\nunderstanding that recovered lepers are no different than anyone
\nelse.<\/p>\n
I hope action can be taken to create more public awareness of
\nthis terrible disease.<\/p>\n
DAVID J BOOTH<\/p>\n
Sanur, Bali<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/more-help-for-lepers-1447893297", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }